Woodstock

Jimi Hendrix, Woodstock (Related Recordings) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (August 2, 1994)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Mca
• ASIN: B000002OSM
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette  |  Vinyl
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (25 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #14,392 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #75 in Music > Rock > Rock Guitarists > Guitar Gods

Track Listings

1. Introduction

2. Fire

3. Izabella

4. Hear My Train a Comin' (Get My Heart Back Together)

5. Red House

6. Jam Back at the House (Beginnings)

7. Voodoo Child (Slight Return)/Stepping Stone

8. The Star Spangled Banner

9. Purple Haze

10. Woodstock Improvisation

11. Villanova Junction

12. Farewell

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Might want to go with the 2-disc reissue, July 14, 2004

By 

Nichomachus - See all my reviews

This review is from: Woodstock (Audio CD)

I've owned this 1994 MCA release for almost ten years and have long thought it was a lousy production, despite an amazing performance with the Band of Gypsies' often visionary group improvisation. They had minimal rehearsal before this performance, which in no way inhibited their creativity and energy on stage. A few of the songs they whipped up the day before.

But with this MCA release, you have to listen really hard in order to appreciate all the bnad's dynamics, such as what other musicians are doing and how they are relating to each other. Often times, Jimi will basically be playing a two-chord rhythm chug, which makes sense if someone else is soloing but otherwise sounds lousy. And Lo! Larry Lee is there in the background, almost totally edited out, and indistinguishable unless you are listening for it. Most of the percussion is waaaay in the background, apart from Mitch who is barely keeping time at more than one point and in his soloing sounds at the end of his rope.

The engineers also monkeyed around with the crowd noise a lot, which is irritating (the photos in the booklet are also blatantly manipulated). One reviewer below notes that most of the crowd had left, and if you listen closely you can easily hear the idiot editor almost randomly waving the volume knob on the canned crowd track. Pathetic. All in all a botched edit.

So I give it two stars for the crap production. The Experience Hendrix label has a 1999 two-disc release that I haven't listened to closely, but I suggest you favor that one and AVOID this MCA release. Not only that, the '99 release (called, "Live at Woodstock," this one is "Jimi Hendrix: Woodstock") actually has the tracks in order.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Jimi is spectacular, but this release is flawed., July 19, 2002

By 

Wallace Marx Jr. "Wallace Marx Jr." (Carlsbad, California, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Woodstock (Audio CD)

I'll keep it brief: every rock fan should hear this performance, as it is a virtuoso work. The big HOWEVER is that whoever re-mastered/re-mixed this performance PIPED IN MASSIVE CROWD NOISE DURING THE SONGS. It's total fakery; listen to Star Spangled Banner and you'll know what I mean. Jimi performed at Woodstock very early Monday morning. Most of the crowd had left and the few that remained were definitely vocal, but not to the levels that this CD portrays. I am replacing this with the new release and hope the same flaw is not there.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Only part of the concert, April 12, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Woodstock (Audio CD)

This is not all of Jimi's Woodstock show (Experience Hendrix plans to reissue the entire set in the summer of '99) but that's not what's really missing on this release. In 1969 Hendrix was making a definite transition to a more "black power"-oriented music that would incorporate distinct elements of funk and R&B, not just the psychedelic blues-rock he had been playing since 1967. So at Woodstock he had the opportunity of debuting an expanded band that would illustrate this new direction towards polyrhythm. The band included hand percussionists and extra guitar. But this expanded sonic range was not mixed into the recording tape of the show, so essentially we are left with the Experience, what rock critics and fans wanted to hear. And I believe it's obvious listening to this recording. Jimi's guitar-work is choppier and less full than usual. Was this a mediocre performance in places or was he complementing instrumentalists who were mixed out of the performance, therefore leaving a blank space? I think the latter option is correct. That still leaves some great performances here, but the overall recording suffers from the neglect of the original on-site engineer.